Traditionally, the main weakness of fully defensive builds is their lack of damage output. Despite of their theoretically superior damage dealt to damage taken ratio (1.0:0.8, technically 1.1:0.8 as 100% proc weapons deal x1.1 damage) using 100% proc weapons compared to their FO (1.0:1.0, technically 1.09:1.0 as 0% proc weapons deal x1.09 damage) counterparts, FO is by far the more popular of the 2 play styles. This is especially true with the stun meta, the extremely power skills that come with the Blodozerker/Bloodmage/Old Stanard/CIT/Vampire/Werewolf/Werepyre subraces and the abundance of FO equips compared to FD equips. This build aims to resolve this weakness by giving a FD build the same burst that you would expect from a FO build. What makes this possible is the Neko subrace armors' incredible compression and the mage's access to 2 different resources (SP and MP). This build can get a bit expensive if you choose to go all the way with it, so I thought this is probably the best time to put this guide up with all the sales and events that are going on and Frostval coming up.

Because this is more of an optimization guide than anything else, it will mostly ignore any role-playing or aesthetics factors. This also means that any mechanics that are in the game are fair game. This includes the use of old-standard equips and even potential exploits. The goal of being able to beat any content without the use of potion/assists/storage will mean that this build may at times make strange build choices to deal with fringe cases (e.g. War-Torn Dragon, TerrorZard). Furthermore, this build is aimed at level 150 Guardian characters. I think Adventurers have too many restrictions for this build to work and are better off with a traditional FD/FO build. The build itself is fairly restrictive on what you can use. Being an Adventurer just makes it worse. Even for guardians, budget builds are severely hampered.

This section gives a brief rundown of each stat. A more detailed explanation of the stats can be found in the Master List of Game Formulae. It will also give a more detailed explanation of how each stat relates to this build.

Strength (STR): The main damage source of melee and ranged damage and melee accuracy. This stat is completely useless for mages. Never put any points in it.

Dexterity (DEX): Increases ranged damage slightly and is the main stat to improve your blocking and ranged attack accuracy. It also contributes to melee and magic attack accuracy as much as strength and intelligence do. For most builds, this is their secondary stat, and it is no different here. I highly recommend using 250 dexterity for this build (and in general). However, because of how accuracy and and blocking works, dexterity is less effective against enemies with extremely high or extremely low blocking/accuracy. As such, dropping DEX to 200 and using the extra 50 points in CHA or LUK is not inconceivable. However, I would not recommend this.

Intelligence (INT): Increases magic damage, mana and magic accuracy. The most important stat for mages. Always put 250 points in this. No exceptions.

Endurance (END): Increases health. By far the most useless stat in the whole game. A combination of mana shields, healing spells and simply good defense/resistances makes this stat obsolete. The only fights where this is more useful than say, LUK, are against the Wicked King and War-Torn Dragon's prismatic burns, the former of which can simply be bursted down. To put into perspective just how useless mana is, it is possible to consistently create a mana shield using Insightful Armor of Awe with about a mana efficiency of 0.7 mp : 1 hp if not more. You can literally get more effective health by increasing your INT than you can by increasing END. To be fair, END is a mathematically strong stat. However, the only HP that matters is the last point of HP, so it ends up being not so great (and also beacause mana shields are so strong).

Luck (LUK): Slightly increases blocking and accuracy for all attacks. Increases the damage of lucky strikes. Increases chances of inflicting or status infliction. Increases Initiative (chance of going first, 1 LUK = 1 Initiative). For most FD builds, this stat is left at 0. However, this is not going to be the case here, though a 0 luck build is absolutely feasible. The key to deciding how much LUK you need is the last mechanic I mentioned - Initiative. There are 2 other sources of Initiative outside of LUK - Whispering Raiment and Ambush Potion, each providing you with +105 Initiative. If your Initiative is 100 points higher than your enemy's, you are guaranteed to go first. A very important thing to keep in mind is that the majority of the mobs have 225 or less LUK. There are those with higher LUK, but those are mobs against whom you can't guarantee to go first against or do not present enough of a challenge to matter. With that in mind, I present to you the following options for how much LUK to use:

0 LUK: Focusing all your points into other stats (usually CHA). You can still use either Whispering Raiment or Ambush Potion to guarantee that you go first against 0 LUK enemies, of which are quite numerous.

50 LUK: A combination of 50 LUK and Neko armor's LUK drive will allow you to always go first again 0 LUK enemies, provided the LUK drive is active before the start of the battle.

100 LUK: Guarantees that you go first against 0 LUK enemies.

115 LUK: Guarantees that you go first against 225 LUK enemies when used in combination with Whispering Raiment and Ambush Potion. My recommendation is to run at least 115 LUK. This is the minimum amount of luck you need to always go first against 225 LUK enemies (boosted with Ambush Potion and Whispering Raiment), and some fights can be much harder if you go second.

170 LUK: Guarantees that you go first against 225 LUK enemies when used in combination with Ambush Potion and the LUK drive on Neko armors.

220 LUK: Guarantees that you go first against 225 LUK enemies when used in combination with Ambush Potion or Whispering Raiment. There are some "unbeatable" bosses that cannot be defeated without the use of the 10% resurrection effect on Paladin/Asgir armors if you run lower amounts of luck (for example, you need to have at least 195 LUK to have a chance of going first against Void Nightbane).

250 LUK: Simply imitate an FO build and max out LUK. No complications.

Any point not use in LUK should be used in CHA.

Charisma (CHA):Increases pet/guest damage and accuracy. It contributes to a portion of booster pets' damage. Some old pets' attack rate is also affected but this is largely irrelevant. Any leftover points from LUK and possibly DEX (again not recommended) should be placed here. The main source of pet/guest damage for this build is Poelala (and other booster pets if you whale on this game), but CHA is still provides a small boost to booster pets if Arcane Amplification is inactive or unavailable to you. Also improves the effectiveness of other pets on turns that you choose to not deal damage (e.g. for healing with Healing Branch). Another important application of CHA is that it boosts the power of healing pets/guests and helps with some rolls. While this is usually irrelevant, you will find it difficult if not impossible to beat War-Torn Dragon without potions/digging into storage/using assists without CHA to boost your healing pets/guests if you don't run Book of Burns. However, My recommendation is to not run more than 135 CHA, as this build does not have the spell slots to summon a lot of guests that take advantage of CHA. In fact, I would recommend running very little CHA. Some fights are also much more difficult if you do not go first. Part of the reason that low CHA builds work so well in general is how overpowered booster pets are and this is no different.

To be blunt, the majority of the classes in this game are useless in the endgame. Some of them do have some uses (e.g. Lay on Hands/Resurrection on Paladin armor, Black Cat guest on Rogue and Berserker armor's damage boost), but they are typically too niche to be worth a slot. However there are 2 standouts which are overlooked by some players and these are the only 2 classes that are going to be discussed here in more detail:

Assassin: This was mentioned above, the the Assassin class armor Whispering Raiment gives the player +105 Initiative. This is its only purpose, but it is an important one. It allows you to always go first against enemies that you otherwise have to leave to chance. Considering the short length of most fights and the wide applicability of this effect, this value of this effect is very significant.

Wizard: The Wizard class is extremely powerful, but only for mages. The Wizard class armor comes in 9 varieties - Generalist Robe and 8 for each of the base elements. In a nut shell, the Generalist Robe gives a x1.38 elecomp and a -5% mana cost to every spell cast while wearing the armor. If your spell costs HP, it will refund SP equal to 5% of the spell's SP cost. It also has a toggle skill called Arcane Lore. When this skill is toggled, your spells cost 190% mana, but instead get a x1.88 elecomp. If your spells have a HP cost associated, it will cost additional SP equal to the HP cost of the spell. A Lore imbued burst spell (e.g. Destruction Burst, Warmaster's Burst) is stronger than a Bloodmage armor skill (albeit costing nearly twice as much mana). As a general spell-boosting armor without lore, Generalist Robe withing Lore boost is superior to the Bloodmage armors (x1.38 elecomp is generally better than the additive +50% damage offered by the Bloodmage armor) while capable of boosting the damage of any burst spell to the level of a Bloodmage armor skill for a substantial amount of mana. The Generalist Robe's elemental counterparts basically do the same thing. However, they only work on spells of their respective element. In exchange, they get a passive x1.72 elecomp and -10% mana to every spell cast. When lore imbued, that elecomp is boosted to a whopping x2.22 and the mana cost is increased to 157.5% of its base cost. This actually far dwarves the damage of Bloodmage skills and starting to get into the the territory (or even dwarfing) CIT boosted armor skills while maintaining a pretty good mana efficiency.

The Wizard Robe has a pretty interesting, exploitable mechanic (probably a bug) associated with Celerity. When under celerity, the first cast of the spell would consume mana as normal. However, the second cast of spell would not account for any mana cost modifiers as long as you do not switch armors. This means that you can cast 2 Lore-imbued spell in a single turn while only paying the cost of 1 imbued spell and 1 unimbued spell. If you have a quick cast spell like Spectral Chains or Knife to Meat you, you can expend your entire mana bar in a single turn to cast 3 lore spells all boosted by 2xPoelala (typically, 1 mana bar only gets you 2 casts, not accounting for Poelala mana costs). Furthermore, it has a similar mechanic with Book of Burns, where you can cast ALL of your spells in Book of Burns enhanced with Lore, but for its base mana cost.

Despite the elemental Wizard Robes' extreme offensive power, I recommend using Generalist Robes or a Bloodmage amor if you want to use spell booster armor due to its wider applicability. However, depending on which spells you have available to you, the elemental variants are very viable options.

A detailed comparison between Generalist Robes and Bloodmage Armor can be seen here.

As the name of the guide implies, this is still at its core, a FD build. The reason it can "steal" from from FO builds is due to the Neko armors' impressive compression, allowing you to make additional room for offensive armors. As such, I recommend Neko as the race of choice. In theory, you can still be a Vampire to use its mesmerize and transformation skills while using 4 Neko armors to cover resistances in all 8 elements. However, this means losing out on all of the Neko class skills, which I do not think is worth it.

Neko armors come in 2 varieties - Sol and Luna. The Sol variant boosts pet damage and scales to CHA while the Luna variant boosts 100% proc weapon damage and scales to DEX. Traditionally, Sol is the armor of choice for defensive players. I would recommend using the Luna variant, as this build will not necessarily run too much CHA. Furthermore, Cataclysm can be boosted by CIT and Bloodstained Morningstar Bulkwark for Luna. However, there isn't really such an equivalent for Sol. This is also the reason that I recommend using 250 DEX.

Speaking of Cataclysm, this skill, just like Arcane Lore for Wizard robes, also has a similar interaction with Celerity. Using Cataclysm typically costs 40 Sol or Luna charges (depending on your chosen faction) and lasts for 1 turn. However, while under celerity, you can use the same cast of Cataclysm twice, without consuming additional charges. I do not know whether or not this is intended. I'm pretty sure it IS intended though, ootherwise it would be weird to use Sol Cataclysm with Shadowfeeder Pendant.

These armors are also capable of swithcing between FD, Neutral and FO leans by toggling the bleed/burn effects. These effects are very powerful if the fight lasts for 5 turns or more, capable of dealing thousands of damage per tick.

Both armors have a LUK drive. Because LUK increases your chances of succeeding status rolls, be sure to have the Neko armor equipped when attempting to inflict status (e.g. Shadowfeeder Pendant, Zfinity Gauntlet: Power). Furthermore, the LUK drive and the DEX drive for Luna/CHA drive for Sol can be used as "SP banks". Typically, when you wear the Neko armor and activate the DEX/LUK drives, you can never get to 1470 SP, as the game regenerates your SP THEN subtracts the cost of the actives every turn. However, if you change armors out of Neko, you can get back to 1470 SP. In the future, if you find yourself needing just a tiny bit of extra SP, you can switch back to the Neko armors. The toggle effects would still be active. They can now be deactivated to refund the SP they previously cost. This can be used with most toggle effects costing SP in this game.

As this is a FD build, you will primarily be using wands and tomes. However, I should note that Wands are preferred over tomes, as there are better spells than what tome provides. Wands also provide a manaless alternative, have synergy with Luna Neko armors and work with Kindred Armor (if you choose to run Kindred Spirit's Valiance). Burst spells (e.g. Destruction Burst, Warmaster's Burst) are also just so much more powerful. While I will list tomes in this section for completeness and in case you prefer to use them, know that I do not really recommend them unless I put a "*" beside it.

No-Drop:Staff of Awe!!!: The only option. Use the default element alignment. This is because the default lean gives you a decent armor/shield for multi-element attacks. For special lean, Power Word: Die is the mathematically best option even for FD. Beware that many bosses these days are now immune to it and I think it gets beat by Spiral Carve and Awe Blast at ~130% Earth resist and ~10000 effective HP. All 3 specials have their uses and are fine options. PWD's 1HKO and Awe Blast's auto hit have some niche advantages while Spiral Carve does more damage than Awe Blast. It's not too important what you choose though, as BoA isn't that great in FD armor anyways. If you run Bloodzerker, I highly recommend using PWD as your special.

El Muchacho (Rare/Package Item): For those of you crazy enough to get this, this is probably the best option you have available to you due to its very wide range of effects. Tome:

Book of Burns*: One of the few tomes that I would recommend to use. This one gives you infinite fire damage, provided you are patient enough. For the sake of practicality and convenience, I would not run this alongside Kindred's Spirit of Valiance. The Fire Shield is compatible with Wizard Robes/Imbue with Lore while being far more efficient than Gandolphin. I have seen shield values of over 2k with mana efficiency of just over 0.2 mp/hp, meaning that even without charging, this thing is the best heal in the entire game, especially when used with Shadowfeeder Pendant. The biggest shield I have been able to cast with is is 3364 HP with an efficiency of 0.1941 mp/hp. Note that the burn spell on Book of Burns has synergy with the Neko skill Neko Overlord, if you stack it enough.

Ice:Wand:

Snowflake Wand (Seasonal Rare): The only option. There is also a Frostval Commemorative Spoon, but the accurate lean on the Snowflake Wand is superior. Fortunately, Frostval is just around the corner. Tome:

None Others:

Arctic Athame: It is a viable option for spellboosting. However, you are better off filling your inventory with other weapons.

Water:Wand:

Tsunami Pen: Despite of it not being a level 150 weapon, it gives a significant boost to water spells. Worth considering if other options are not available.

Mogloween 2016 Commemorative Spoon (Rare): A full-powered level 150 wand. It is supposed to be a seasonal rare, but from what I can tell, it is no longer available. Tome:

Healing Branch*: One of the recommended spell tomes as it can let you infinitely draw out a fight if you so wanted to. This tome has incredible healing compression. One very often overlooked aspect is the spell Curative Waters. While only useful in long, drawn out fights, this spell heals about 320 hp over 10 turns for a mere 26 mp, and also has the benefit of curing burns/poisons/bleeds/diseases (though it will heal less overall and may end up costing a LOT more mana, ironically can make it less useful), making it the most mana efficient heal in the game to my knowledge at a ridiculous ~0.08 mp -> per hp conversion rate. I might even go as to say the the main reason you want to use Healing Branch is for Curative Waters in long fights, as its other healing spell is dwarfed by Insightful Armor of Awe/Book of Burns's mana shields and you are better off with a 100% proc weapon than a mana efficient spell in most cases. Overall a very good item with good compression effects, but has only niche uses.

Energy:Wand:

Balloon Baton G (Seasonal Rare): 100% proc weapon with an accurate lean, but has a wide damage range. Of note is that this weapon does not have a true special and therefore deals x1.1 damage.

Keep in mind that the default element lean for your No-Drop, which is what I recommend, gives you an Earth weapon. Tome:

Loremaster's Tome*: The spells themselves are nothing special. However, what IS special is the incredible amount of compression in this weapon - 3 spells in 1. I personally wouldn't use it, but because of this compression, it is worth considering for every build.

Light:Wand:

Bloodstained Morningstar Occult Cross (Level 150 entry not available in Encyclopedia): The best option in my opinion, due to the active effect's synergy with Luna Neko's Cataclysm/Bloodzerker armors.

Zardwarts Dragon-Frill Wand: Light wand with an incredible amount of compression. An alternative to Morningstar Cross if you don't run Blodozerker. Tome:

Loremaster's Tome*: The spells themselves are nothing special. However, what IS special is the incredible amount of compression in this weapon - 3 spells in 1. I personally wouldn't use it, but because of this compression, it is worth considering for every build.

Chambered Eternity Love (UR GGB): Only harm wand and has a small chance to control. Some sort of Harm damage is necessary to beat stuff like Terrorzard and SeekRat Omni, and I suppose this is as good as any. That being said, this is not a priority to get if you are tight on URGGB. Tome:

Loremaster's Tome*: The spells themselves are nothing special. However, what IS special is the incredible amount of compression in this weapon - 3 spells in 1. I personally wouldn't use it, but because of this compression, it is worth considering for every build.

Multi-Element:Wand:Rainbow Raygun: Due to the fact that you probably can't get 1 element of everything for every situation due to inventory space limitations and the lack of compression weapons in the game, this weapon is quite good for scrambling resists. Furthermore, due to its high elecomp, it is in many cases your strongest option for weapon. Especially recommended if you run Book of Burns. If you run Prime Orb of Chaos, this is not recommended. Tome:

Unfortunately, it is not possible to fulfill criteria 4 with the currently available items, as it requires you to have either Firework Buckler (seasonal rare) or Miregale/Gemini Shield (rare, may possibly return in the future). If you do not have either of these shields, I recommend changing your no-drop element to Energy at the expense of losing a multi-element armor/shield. With that being said, let's move onto the options available to you:

In addition, it should be noted that Ultra!!!Guardian Shield is superior to Shield of Awe!!! due to having the same resists, but the Ultra!!!Guardian Shield has a SP restoring effect. However, the permanent version of the Shield is currently bugged to share the same stats as the none "!!!" version of the shied. This means it has -1% resistance compared to the Awe!!! Shield across the board, though it still restores SP (albeit less than the "!!!" version). However, the temporary version of the Ultra!!! shield that you can get for free can be accessed in the Guardian Tower at any time, and this version is not bugged.

Fire:

Due to the available options, your fire shield slot must consist of a compression shield.

Pixel Guard (Rare): The best option available. However, it is a permanent rare.

Umazen Aspis: Alternative to Pixel Guard. If you have lots of paralysis effects, this is better, but Pixel Guard is preferred otherwise. There aren't many Energy-damaging mobs weak against damage sources that inflict paralysis and you would want to use CIT if you are using Thunder Wave Blade. The only other relevant paralysis items I can think of are FruitcakeZard pet and Call FruitcakeZard guest. If you have those, definitely run Umazen Aspis.

Thunder Lord's Crest (Rare): Works with Neko burns by restoring a small amount of SP. It's the best option if you do not have Pixel Guard or do not run FruitcakeZards.

Dynamo Defender: If you were around to get this item, it is better than Umazen Aspis if you don't use a paralysis effect.

Serenia's Blessing (Seasonal Rare): Each time you take damage, this shield restores a small amount of mana. Because mana shield essentially turns mana into hp, this item is technically provides far more effective healing than Morningstar Bulwark. It also helps to off-set some of the mana cost incurred by the Poelala guest. This is my personal favourite Earth shield.

Sol Defender (Earth): If you choose to go with a high CHA build, then this is arguably better than Morningstar Shield.

Golem Guard: Arguably better than the above 3 single-resist options. However, if you run CHA, I would personally prefer Macka-Lot or Sol Defender and instead use the SP for Neko Armor's DEX/LUK drive or a Misc., as keeping all of them active can be a bit draining.

Eternal Twilight's Regalia: If you choose to run Firework Buckler + Gemini Shield, then you can run a pure Darkness Shield. My personal preference is this one, as not only does it have an excellent mastercraft effect, but it also has a secondary light resist. However, from what I have read, most people prefer other shields, so I will be listing those here as well below.

Lantern of Souls: An decent option. Effectively reduces the damage you take by 3.57%...kinda. It's a bit less in reality depending on your block.

Lunar Eclipse Shied (Seasonal Rare): A lot of people love this shield, but I think this is the worse shield in the Darkness shield list. Its active is too weak and can't be boosted by either CIT or Celtic Wheel. Blind is nice, but you are not likely going to stay in a Darkness shield against a light mob without celerity/stun even if they are blinded.

Luna Defender: An excellent option, but requires you to be holding a wand/bow. However, this shouldn't be a big issue. Overall, this should outperform Lantern of Souls.

Chaos Wrought Defender (Rare): Possibly an amazing pure Darkness Shield, if not a little costly on the SP. I haven't really made my mind up about it yet. It has a quick cast that can be used once per turn costing 108 SP to inflict a choke effect. The Choke effect can be stacked with other applications of the choke, including the Shield itself. Run with Gemini and Firework Buckler. A single application will reduce the enemy's damage to 92.86%. A second to 83.93%. In terms of damage reduced to SP cost, it's not THAT great. The nice thing is that it doesn't need to be equipped after the Choke effect is applied, meaning it is effective against all attacks, not just Darkness. In addition, the way choke works is that new applications of choke will keep the previous choke's duration, but compresses (or spreads out) all of the new application's effect over the duration. This means that if you inflict a single turn of choke using something like Pig Drake and follow it up with an active of Chaosrought Defender, you get get a choke of about 40%. Of course, you can stack this much higher with stuff like Bard of War or Mason Form.

Up to this point, most of the recommendations have been pretty standard. Starting with this section, you will see some deviations from what you would see in an ordinary FD guide. As mentioned earlier in the guide, the build will use the 4x Luna Neko Armor (including the "9th" armor slot transformation):

The Awe armor of multi-element and the Neko armors form the defensive core of your build.

With the defensive armors covered, you still have 4 free armor slots. This is the start of the "burst" part of this build. These 4 armor slots along with your spells will be used to form the offensive core of this build. Keep in mind that these armors are chosen purely for their offensive-capabilities. Their defensive capabilities are irrelevant as they will almost always be used under celerity/stunlock/1-shot/for farming or questing. You will likely never press the "attack" button unless you are using the Bloodzerker armors, and even then rarely as it is preferred for those to be used with Bloodstained Morningstar Occult Cross. You want to choose the armors and spells in a way that gives you nukes for as many possible elements as possible, possibly with options for both SP and MP. I will list the possible options and separate them into several categories:

SP Nukes: Armors with SP-based skills. Every armor listed here are compatible with and should used with CIT/stunlock whenever possible. Armors skills incompatible with CIT are not worth using. Depending on how you want to set up your build:

White Knight Z (Z-Token): The strongest of the old-standard armors. The only problem with this is that it overlaps with Bloodstained Morning Star Occult Cross + Cataclysms, making it a little less desirable. The difference is 7.89 for Neko + Morningstar vs. 11.06 for WKZ (boosted with Arcane Int/50 Int misc/Double Poelala/CIT). WKZ does about 40% more damage. The bleed/burn from Neko drops that number to about 30-35%. While WKZ does significantly more damage, it's generally preferred to go with Taladosian armor/HSVV/Bloodzerker due to this overlap.

Horo-Show Void Vigilante: The last old-standard armor listed here. Though the weakest of the 3, there is no other way to replicate this armor's damage output with the Ice element unless you have Armor of Frostval Past. AoFP can ofc be comboed WKZ/Taladosian Robes/Bloodzerker + Morningstar, which are a bit stronger than HSVV. However it's debatable if the extra SP is worth the small increase in damage.

Armour of Frostval Past: Has a 2-turn Ice-imbue SP skill. Beats HSVV in damage when combined with WKZ/Taladosian Robes/Morningstar + Bloodzerker. Hard to say if it is worth the extra SP.

Blazing Bloodzerker (UR GGB): Like all Bloodzerker armors using it with Bloodstained Morning Star Occult Cross will allow you to achieve damage output similar to the old-standard armors. This one overlaps with Fire Dragon Talon however.

Terra Bloodzerker (UR GGB): same as Blazing Bloodzerker, but has no imbue spell overlap.

Quenching Bloodzerker (UR GGB): Same as Terra Bloodzerker

Moglord Tortress (Rare): Arguablly better than Quenching Bloodzerker for this build in its water form.

Notably, none of these 8 armors that are listed require you to use a 0% proc weapon to reach their full damage potential like many armors do these days. The Bloodzerker armors have their max damage output when combined with Morningstar Cross while the old-standard armors do not scale from weapon damage at all, despite being compatible with CIT. As such, using 100% proc weapons will not hinder your damage.

As of the release of Prime Chaos Orb, Bloodzerker + Morningstar has a distinct advantage over old-standard armors for Generalist Robe builds in that they are on a different lock-out from regular spells. However, Bloodzerker also has a HP cost, so it's a disadvantage that you may want to consider when choosing your nukes.

MP Nukes: Armors with MP-based spells and boosts spell damage. I would choose one of the armors below and use them to boost the damage of your spells.

Pyromancer Bloodmage (Rare): The least desirable of the Bloodmage armors, as it overlaps with Destruction Burst and Warmaster's Burst, which are available to everyone.

Generalist Robe: See section 4 more information. If you are a whale like me and have access to all Destruction Burst, Arctic Tornado, Creation Burst and Cysero's Explosive Booth, Generalist Robe is the preferred option. Otherwise, go with one of the Bloodmage armors.

Elemental Wizard Robes: Again, see section 4 for more information. While Generalist's Robe is more versatile, depending on your setup, you may prefer one of its elemental variants.

Other Utility/Offense:

Whispering Raiment: See the write-up on LUK in section 3 to decide whether or not you want to use this. This armor is used solely for its initiative bonus.

Kindred Spirit's of Valiance: At first it seems like a no-brainer to include this, but remember that part of the criteria is convenience and time-efficiency. While this is an impeccable boss-killing armor, it is really weak for normal use due to the charge-up. My recommendation is to either use this armor or Book of Burns, but not both as they fulfill mostly the same purpose. My personal preference is Book of Burns, as it frees up an armor slot for another SP nuke. That being said, if you choose to only run 1 offensive armor in your active slots, choose this one.

Armors to Win "Unwinnable" Fights Fights: There are a number of fights in the game that were designed to be unwinnable. However, there are specific armors that allows you to win those fights. These are:

Ghost Costume (Seasonal Rare): This is for Loco. Loco always goes first in the fight no matter what, and immediately hits you with a 3-hit energy attack for massive damage. It is possible to survive these attacks by stacking energy resist. However, the problem is that for each hit that lands, you get controlled for 1 turn. He will then follow up with a Fire attack, which you will absolutely not survive against. This means that the only way for you to take a turn and win the fight is to block all 3 of his initial energy attacks. Ghost Costume's high defense allows you to do this, along with a with high magic defense shield (ideally Spell Barricade or Shield of Agony's Blood, however, most level 150 shields should work. They might just take more attempts). Just repeat the fight over and over until you block all 3 of the initial attacks. Then win the fight with Book of Burns. I don't know if Ghost Costume is 100% necessary or if Neko would be sufficient. However, it defintely makes the fight much more consistent.

Zombie Hunter's Garb (Package/Rare): It is possible to go first against Nightbane using a high LUK build, by using Whispering Raiment and Ambush Potion. It might take a few tries but it's possible. The problem is doing anything after you go first, as Nightbane has enough defense that he cannot be hit by ANYTHING other than auto-hit effects. He also deals enough damage to 1-shot you. However, the combination of Zombie Hunter's Garb/Stout Talon/Wind-Resist Misc/Groundhog pet allows you to receive 0 damage from wind attacks. Nightbane is also an undead creature, meaning Zombie Hunter's Garb will turn all of his damage to wind. Then, use an auto-hit weapon to slowly whittle him down. Also, if you should run this alongside Ebony Sepulchure Form for this to work on nearly every monster. With Essence of Carnage fixed, this is no longer necessary, as it is then possible to kill Nightbane by Stacking Essence of Carnage and using it with a high hit count auto-hit spell.

I mentioned earlier in the guide that this guide can be somewhat expensive on your wallet. In this section, you will start to see why. Below are the options available to you. You can choose 1 of 2 routes - nuking with burst spells (or a combination of burst spells and armor skills) or nuking with armor skills.

For the former, the most important damaging spells are Destruction Burst, Creation Burst, Arctic Tornado and Cysero's Explosive Teleport Booth. Unfortunately 3/4 of these spells are premium. For those without access to these, do not use weaker non-burst spells. Those are simply too weak in comparison. Instead, compensate for the missing elements through the use of armor skills (either SP or MP, whichever is available to you. See Section 8) and use a combination of burst spells and armor skills.

For the ladder option, you will need to use imbue spells (Fire Dragon Talon, Thunder Wave Blade, Terror Fist and Light Lord's Blessing) to supplement your limited armor slots, all of which cost tokens. You will not have access to a wind nuke, but this can be remedied with either Rainbow Raygun or Prime Chaos Orb.

Lastly, if you plan on purchasing any package, Arcane Amplification should be prioritized over everything else.

Fire:

Destruction Burst: One of the 4 spells in the game that not only have elemental compression, but also have a burst effect. This is the only non-premium spell and is your spell of choice for Fire/Darkness.

Fire Dragon Talon (Z-Tokens): Fire imbue spell. Arguably the best of all the imbue spells as it gives the biggest immediate pay-off. Do not use with Blazing Bloodzerker.

Arms of the Dragonguard: This spell is decent for those with high luck builds, but generally should be used with Purple Rain or Father Time. While it gives you incredible burst damage, I generally can't find a spot to fit it into my build. The way to use it is Purple Rain -> Dragonguard -> Next turn -> buffs/celerity/stuns -> Purple Rain -> Burst. With Father Time, it should be Equip Father Time -> Buffs/stuns -> Dragonguard -> Next Turn -> Celerity/stun -> Activate Father Time -> Burst.

Ice:

Arctic Tornado (Package): Ideal for Ice/Wind spells. One of the 4 spells in the game that not only have elemental compression, but also have a burst effect.

Spectral Chains (Rare): Once per battle quick-cast spell with a damage penalty. While it is not a replacement for the burst spell, it can be used if you are missing some of the options.

Thunder Wave Blade (Z-Tokens): Very powerful energy imbue spell. While it doesn't deal as much damage as Fire Dragon Talon, it has a paralysis effect that seems like it increases in duration with more damage dealt. I've seen it go to 8 turns of paralysis before, which can effectively be doubled with Shadowfeeder Pendant. Do not run this if you run High Oracle's Taladosian Robes.

Blood Ruby Rain: Use with Hydromancer Bloodmage for nukes. The main weakness is the roll associated with its effect. Use with Father Time or Purple Rain.

Vidrir's Judgement: An auto-hit spell that can be combined with Essence of Carnage/Ambush Potion/Whispering Raiment to 1 shot Nightbane 1on1.

Wind:

Arctic Tornado (Package): Ideal for Ice/Wind spells. One of the 4 spells in the game that not only have elemental compression, but also have a burst effect.

Warmaster's Burst: Alternative Wind burst spell to Arctic Tornado. While it does cost less hp, Arctic Tornado is preferred if it is available due to the compression.

Borrow G: While I am not a huge fan of this spell, I believe it deserves an honorable mention here. It starts off stronger than both Warmaster's Burst and Arctic Tornado with no additional HP cost. The only crux of it is you need to kill your opponent before they have a chance to heal. Ideal when used with celerity.

Earth:

Creation Burst (Package): Same as Arctic Tornado, but Light/Earth. This is the least important of the 4 burst spells, as its damage can be replaced with Terra Bloodzerker + White Knight Z/Lumeomancer Bloodmage.

Goggplant Parmesan: Earth/Water compression. An acceptable budget option, owing to the compression and having no overlaps with the gold burst spells that are available in the game.

Light:

Creation Burst: Same as Arctic Tornado, but Light/Earth. This is the least important of the 4 burst spells, as its damage can be replaced with Terra Bloodzerker + White Knight Z/Lumeomancer Bloodmage.

Light Lord's Blessing: Light imbue spell. Not great as it overlaps with WKZ and Mornignstar Cross.

Darkness:

Destruction Burst: One of the 4 spells in the game that not only have elemental compression, but also have a burst effect. This is the only non-premium spell of the 3 and is your spell of choice for Fire/Darkness.

Terror Fist (Z-Token) (Z-Tokens): Darkness version of Thunder Wave Blade, inflicting Fear instead of paralysis. Slightly worse overall, as Fear is not a 100% chance to stun, but you are using it for the imbue, not the Fear (though the fear is also very strong).

Harm:

Archmage Research: A decent source of harm damage and compression if you are missing some of the better options on this list.

Healing

No need to expend a slot on healing spells. Healing Branch, Book of Burns and Insightful Armor of Awe are sufficient.

Guests

Summon Poelala (UR GGB): #1 GGB priority for any mage. Booster pets in general are broken as hell, since you can get a near full powered pet with 0 CHA, saving you 250 stat points. Because this build doesn't have the slots available to run guests for multiple elements, Poelala is going to be the main source of damage. This is also why I do not recommend running more than 135 CHA in section 3.

Call Twilly: For those running a bit more CHA, I recommend a healing guest. This is mainly useful for turns where you are not attacking or for very long drawn-out fights.

Summon Essence of Carnage: Very strong and high recommended. Restores mana based on weapon damage. Because some armor skills (Bloodzerker, Kindred, Old standard, etc...) are all weapon-based, they work with EoC and can easily restore your entire mana bar in a single turn. If you take into consideration mana shields, mana can be used to substitute health, making this extremely strong. It also has a kindred-like effect with no ceiling, allowing to essentially hit damage cap on every single hit of any spell if you are patient enough. It's not an effect that you will use often, but it's an effect that can let you potentially 1-shot everything you don't instantly die against. Combining this effect with Ambush Potion, Whispering Raiment and Vidrir's Judgement allows you to 1-shot Nightbane 1 on 1.

Buffs/Utility

Arcane Amplification (Package): INT booster. for those planning to purchase packages, this is the top priority.

Moonwalker's Grace: DEX booster. Good if you have the space for it. Certainly not necessary.

Another big potential cash dump. Many of the items listed are subtractive defensive miscs. and the older ones do not have an upkeep cost. Other than that, subtractive miscs are more effective against enemies with predictable/mono element attack patterns while multiplicative miscs are better against multi-element enemies. Another thing to consider is that many of the subtractive miscs. is that they consume a turn and aren't great when used in conjunction with Zfinity Gauntlets.

Fire:

Amulet of Drakonnan G: An incredibly powerful item for mages. Not only is it a Fire/Magic subtractive misc., it does not cost a turn to activate like many of its peers and has a low SP cost. Even more impressively, it provides you with a +50 INT, meaning it can also be used as your primary damage-booster when you are nuking.

Urn of Daryngord (Z-Token): Fire/Energy/Int/Magic compression using the old-standard misc. Takes a turn to activate but is incredibly cost efficient due to having no upkeep cost.

Mark of The'Galin (Z-Token): Fire/Darkness/Melee/STR/ compression. I'm not a big fan of this, as you are paying SP for STR. However, very often when you are rounding off you build, you will find the Fire/Darkness compression to be useful.

Grakma Harbinger: Fire resist/CHA misc. Calls Grakma, which can either hit really hard or inflict fire EleVul. More importantly, it has a toggle that gives you a Berserk lean (-15.3% BTH and x1.2195 Damage). The Berserk lean damage bonus affects spells and is not halved, unlike other damage boosters like Blood Contract. This makes it the best damage booster for builds running Generalist Robe/burst spells while still compressing a defensive fire misc and fire guest.

Ice:

Zfinity Gauntlet: Time (Z-Token, Seasonal Rare?): At this point, everyone knows how broken the Zfinity Gauntlets are. Not only does this give you Ranged/Ice defense, but it has 2 powerful actives. A once/battle effect that allows you to stun with no save rolls and a reusable effect reducing the enemy's BTH/Defenses. Do not run alongside Love Potion#736.

Mark of Falerin (Z-Token): Darkness/Ice/Ranged/INT compression. This is great since it gives you int. However, it also overlaps with Zfinity Gauntlet: Time.

Water:

Zfinity Gauntlet: Mind (Z-Token, Seasonal Rare?): Mana restoration. Mathematically, it is superior to Pixel Ether in most situations, but Pixel Ether does have its own advantages. Combined with the Gauntlet's water resist/magic defense, it is overall preferred over Pixel Ether.

Bar of Soap (Rare): Same as Urn of Daryngord, but Water/Earth/CHA/Magic. Unlike UoD however, this one takes SP and has an upkeep cost. In addition, it has an active that reduces the opponent's BTH by 10. This effect is very unique in that once the effect is applied, it can NEVER be removed, even if you switch items. The roll to apply the effect is also generally heavily in your favor.

Hyperalphean Dragon Fang: Increases water damage and INT/STR. More importantly, it has a quick cast active to reduce the enemy's Endurance by 40 for 1 turn at a cost of HP. The ladder effect is more important as it's a universal damage boost when you are nuking. The active can be used over and over until it succeeds on any particular turn. Once it succeeds, it cannot be used again until the next turn.

Energy:

Zfinity Gauntlet: Power (Z-Token, Seasonal Rare?): This is arguably the best of the Zfinity Gauntlet. Melee/Energy. Its once/battle active is actually garbage, due to it scaling from END and therefore has an inefficient SP-HP conversion rate for this build. However, the second active is a quick-cast Elemental Vulnerability. This makes it the only Misc. in the game that gives you a (significant) damage boost while it is not equipped, meaning you can use another Misc. to further boost your damage (or defense, depending on the situation/preference).

Urn of Daryngord (Z-Token): Fire/Energy/Int/Magic compression using the old-standard misc. Takes a turn to activate but is incredibly cost efficient due to having no upkeep cost.

Mecha Knight Power Core: Dark/Energy/Luck/Magic compression. The main issue with this is that it overlaps with Zfinity Gauntlet: Power. However, it's a great option for those who don't have Power Gauntlet.

Ravenous Talisman (Seasonal Rare): Currently available. Wind resist misc that not only gives 50 INT, but also has a 15.44% damage boost toggle against wind monsters at a cost of 23 hp. Still not as good as Windter Crown, but still good.

Father's Day Sock (Seasonal Rare): Earth/Wind compression. I don't like it due to it giving END and STR as its stats. However, the particular combination of compression can be useful rounding off many builds.

Earth:

Bell Shell: Arguably the best earth resist misc. and with a wide range of applicability overall.

Bar of Soap (Rare): Same as Urn of Daryngord, but Water/Earth/CHA/Magic. Unlike UoD however, this one takes SP and has an upkeep cost. In addition, it has an active that reduces the opponent's BTH by 10. This effect is very unique in that once the effect is applied, it can NEVER be removed, even if you switch items. The roll to apply the effect is also generally heavily in your favor.

Father's Day Sock (Seasonal Rare): Earth/Wind compression. I don't like it due to it giving END and STR as its stats. However, the particular combination of compression can be useful rounding off many builds.

Light:

Zfinity Gauntlet Soul. Light/Melee. In addition, it gets 2 actives, the first restoring SP (once per battle) and the second restoring SP at the cost of HP, with increasing cost per use. An alternative to Essence Orb. Though it cannot be spammed, it is on paper much more efficient than the level 150 version Essence Orb (which should be made distinct from the level 5 version of Essence Orb, which is far more efficient) in almost all cases. Cumulatively, it is more cost efficient than Essence Orb up to and including the 6th cast of the second skill of Soul Gauntlet. On the 7th cast, it starts to become a lot less efficient than Essence Orb. However, it is not actually possible to cast this 7 times on a 0 Endurance character who has not received any healing. In reality, it isn't quite that efficient, primarily due to the existence of Purple Rain. Because Soul Gauntlet gives you SP in large chunks while Essence Orb gives it to you smaller increments, you are more likely to have excess SP if Gauntlet is used in between Purple Rain casts, thus "wasting" SP. Furthermore, using the second skill on Soul Gauntlet in between Purple Rain casts will increase the HP cost of the skill after your second cast of Purple Rain, whereas Essence Orb can be used as many times as you want in between Purple Rain casts without future increase to hp cost. In reality, it's probably only more efficient than EO up to the 5th use of the second skill (which is generally more than enough). If you do end up in a longer fight, you can probably depend on the catnip skill on Neko, The combination of this higher efficiency along with the defensive compression makes this item desirable over the level 150 EO and most other light items.

Elahi's Irt of Osiris: An excellent misc., though with a bit of a high upkeep cost. Not only is this the best light misc. defensively, it is also a great offensive misc. Can be used as your main offensive misc. Main weakness is the high (but acceptable) cost.

Evil Eyeglasses: Lower cost light misc that has a 1-time mana cost and takes a turn, but no upkeep, meaning it is very cost efficient..

Mecha Knight Power Core: Dark/Energy/Luck/Magic compression. The main issue with this is that it overlaps with Zfinity Gauntlet: Power. However, it's a great option for those who don't have Power Gauntlet.

Mark of The'Galin (Z-Token): Fire/Darkness/Melee/STR/ compression. I'm not a big fan of this, as you are paying SP for STR. However, very often when you are rounding off you build, you will find the Fire/Darkness compression to be useful.

Mark of Falerin (Z-Token): Darkness/Ice/Ranged/INT compression. This is great since it gives you int. However, it also overlaps with Zfinity Gauntlet: Time.

Utility/Damage:

Essence Orb (level 5/150): Staple. The level 150 version is outperformed by Soul Gauntlet in general. However, for characters who rely heavily on SP nukes, EO may be preferred as it gives you faster recovery. The level 5 version is muc much more efficient. However, it also requires a lot more clicking.

Pixel Ether (Rare): SP-MP conversion. An excellent item. From a purely mathematical perspective, this Pixel Ether is technically outperformed by Zfinity Gauntlet: Mind in most situations, when taking into consideration Essence Orb's conversion rate, not to mention the gauntlet's compression properties, though the Gauntlet cannot be spammed. I believe if the level 5 Essence Orb is used, Pixel Ether is much more efficient than Mind Gauntlet.

Blood Contract (Package): General damage boost item. Low priority item, as items such as Amulet of Drakonnan G, Elahi's Irt of Osiris, Windter Crown and Mark of Falerin can all fulfill the same role.

Prime Chaos Orb (URGGB): One of the strongest damaging items in the game. The resistance scrambling effect is also useful, as you may not run a weapon of each element and works well with Book of Burns.

Generally speaking, the misc. inventory should look something like this: 1. Shadowfeeder Pendant 2. Essence Orb or Zfinity Gauntlet: Soul Gauntlet is generally preferred over the level 150 version of Essence Orb. However, the level 5 version of Essence Orb is much stronger. 3. If available, Zfinity Gauntlet: Time or Love Potion #736 4. If available, Zfinity Gauntlet: Mind or Pixel Ether if you are running a build using Bloodmage/Gneeralist Robes. I think Gauntlet is preferred if you are not using level 5 Essence Orb, but I can understand why people would prefer Pixel Ether. Rejuvenating Necklace is acceptable, but if the former 2 are not available, don't force it into your build. 5. A general damage boosting item. Typically this means one of Mark of Falerin, Amulet of Drakonnan, Blood Contract, Windter Crown or Elahi's Irt of Osiris.

And fill any open misc. slots with the best misc. items available to you, in a way that gives you the most defensive coverage or whatever gives you the best utility. You can pick from the list or use something that might not be on the list (e.g. Father's Day Tie, Father's Day Sock, Mother's Charm Necklace, Mother's Charm Earring).

For low CHA builds, you want to fill our your inventory with as many Booster pets as possible and fill any open slots with utility pets. Remember that their ability to deal damage is irrelevant. The most important part is their effect. To be honest, after Poelala, a healing pet and Pig Drake/Chiaro Symbiote, everything else is unnecessary. Higher CHA builds will want to run Poelala + a more traditional beastmaster pets.

Groundhog (Z-Token, Seasonal Rare): Wind resist toggle pet. Great if you don't run a wind-resist misc. Great even if you do. It is possible to take 0 wind damage with this pet. When used with Zombiie Hunter (rare package item) and Ebony Sephulchure form, it is possible to take 0 damage from nearly all sources.

My Tiny Void Pwny (UR GGB): If you choose to not run a Harm weapon or spell, then this can be used to slowly but surely grind down SeekRat Omni and TerrorZard. Using a combination of mana shield and Healing Branch and healing guests, it is possible to stall those fights out infinitely. Otherwise, not worth the slot.

Chiaro Symbiote: Good option, especially for low CHA builds. You can re-equip him to reset its attack counter if you don't want want it to go off.

Again, because this build often plays like a FO build, I wouldn't worry too much about pets other than Poelala. If you have a booster pet, it's OK to have another pet of the same element if the utility justifies it (e.g. Having both Royal Cake and Lepre-Chan in the same inventory).

December 3, 2019: Astromorph item series exploit has been fixed. All references to Astromorph exploit has been removed. Mana Shield change reverted. Gandolphin removed as a suggestion as Shield of Insight outperforms it.